By Vicky Boyd
Surrounded by reminders of years past, more than 200 members and guests celebrated the San Joaquin Farm Bureau’s 110th Annual Meeting recently at the San Joaquin County History Museum in Lodi. Not only did Farm Bureau leaders discuss the challenges ahead for agriculture, but members also affirmed a new slate of officers and board members.
Elected president was Les Strojan, formerly first vice president. James Chinchiolo moved from second to first vice president, and Herman Doornenbal was selected second vice president. In addition, more than $40,000 in scholarships was awarded to high school and college students, most of whom planned to pursue ag-related studies.
Kent Norman, who presented the scholarships along with Katie Veenstra, said the program has come full circle as he was a previous scholarship recipient. After attending Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and receiving a degree in bioresource and agricultural engineering, he joined the Stockton East Water District as an engineer.
“It’s important that we continue to support this program and invest in the next generation,” said Norman, also SJFB Young Farmers & Ranchers chapter treasurer.
In passing the gavel to Strojan, outgoing President Andrew Watkins said he was humbled to have served as county Farm Bureau leader for two terms. He thanked all the volunteers as well as the 60-plus board and standing committee members for the time they devote to Farm Bureau.
“There are hundreds of people who make this organization operate,” Watkins said. “Without our members and the financial support to pay staff to present events like this, nothing would happen.”
Measure J
Strojan, who raises cattle and produces forage with his sons near Farmington, wasted no time in outlining the challenges ahead, including county tax assessments for Williamson Act ground as well as Measure J.
The Sonoma County ballot proposal would eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of Confined Animal Feeding Operation, or CAFO. Instead, animal rights activists define a CAFO as an operation where animals are held for 45 days or more during a 12-month period in a lot or facility where forage or crops are not maintained during the normal growing season. The measure qualified for the Sonoma County ballot after supporters collected enough qualified signatures.
California Farm Bureau First Vice President Shaun Crook said activists targeted Sonoma County because of its proximity to San Francisco and are using it as a test case. To defeat these types of measures will take significant funding. The Sonoma County Farm Bureau estimates it will take more than $1.5 million to defeat Measure J
To help fight the measure, several agricultural groups have joined together to raise funds at No on Measure J (https://www.noonmeasurej.com/). SJFB initially contributed $5,000.
If passed by voters, the measure would essentially shutter all of Sonoma County’s poultry operations, 98% of county dairies, a number of horse facilities, and potentially some goat and sheep operations, according to Sonoma County Farm Bureau information.
“This is a very big thing for our segment of agriculture,” Strojan said. “These aren’t big corporations that are going to be losers. They’re going to be small family farmers.”
Measure J also could set a precedent and embolden animal welfare activists to expand their efforts into the San Joaquin Valley, which has significantly more livestock and dairy operations, Crook said.
To help educate voters, the Sonoma County Farm Bureau along with two other County Farm Bureaus and CAFB hosted a “farm to finish” booth at the Sonoma Raceway during the recent Save Mart 350 NASCAR race. Representing SJFB were Strojan and Executive Director Andrew Genasci.
“It was a blast,” Strojan said. “It was worthwhile. The whole idea was to get people aware of farming.”
Williamson Act assessments
Fueled by concerns about over-taxation, an ad hoc committee of SJFB members and Genasci have begun discussions with the county tax assessor about land valuations under the Williamson Act.
“Why are taxes on walnut orchards going up, when the crop values went down?” Strojan said.
Under the Williamson Act, landowners who put their farmland under contract for 10 years pay substantially lower property taxes than they would otherwise. Assessments are based on a complex formula that considers land rents, crop market data, estimated potential income and other factors.
The price of several commodities, notably walnuts, has dropped over the past few years, and this also may influence land rents. But Williamson Act assessments don’t appear to reflect the price trends.
“One of the issues that came up right off the bat is they may be behind in changing some of their assessments,” he said. “We’ll continue to have meetings with them so we can help them along with some of the information they don’t have.”
Based on initial discussions, Strojan said the assessor’s department has been receptive and is willing to work with Farm Bureau.
Chinchiolo, who was part of the ad hoc group, said the county plans to make adjustments on walnut and cherry valuations, “which I think is a positive.”
“I think there’s still a lot of work to do with the assessor’s office to make sure other commodities, particularly in our county, grapes, are taken into account.”
Expenses exceed revenue
A producer of cherries and walnuts with his father near Lodi and Linden, Chinchiolo said escalating input costs coupled with lower returns are a big issue, not just for himself but for fellow farmers.
“That’s what I’m hearing a lot of guys talk about – a lower amount of revenue coming in and higher costs,” he said.
One way to achieve better grower returns is to remove some of the so-called middlemen and bring the farmer closer to the consumer. Chinchiolo used the walnut industry as an example.
After the grower harvests the nuts, they go to a handler for hulling and shelling, then to a repacker to be put in consumer-sized containers. In some cases, the nuts may travel as far as New Jersey to become part of mixed-nuts product.
In trying to reduce the cost of extra intermediaries, a number of handlers have installed consumer packaging equipment. Because of their volume, they now can sell directly to big stores.
“I think it’s a step in the right direction,” Chinchiolo said.
Water and over-regulation
An almond producer from Escalon, Doornenbal was chairman of the SJFB Water Committee when he was tabbed for the second vice president’s position.
“They asked me, and I decided it’s time to step up,” said Doornenbal, who also sits on the Oakdale Irrigation District Board of Directors.
When asked what he sees as a few big issues facing agriculture, Doornenbal didn’t hesitate – water and over-regulation.
Although the unimpaired flows, which are part of the state’s 2018 Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan, and the Delta tunnel are looming on the horizon, he said the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is more pressing.
Adopted by the state Legislature in 2014, the law requires water agencies to balance groundwater withdrawals with recharge by 2040. Much of San Joaquin County overlays the Eastern San Joaquin Subbasin, which the state classified as critically overdrafted. As such, groundwater sustainability agencies came together under a joint powers agreement and submitted one single groundwater sustainability plan to the state Department of Water Resources in January 2020.
They also had to begin to implement it. One of the big unknowns is who will pay for the projects contained in the plan, he said.
Nearly five years in, Doornenbal said local water agencies will need to report their progress to the state next year.
“There’s verbage on how we’re going to become sustainable, and I worry about all of these projects,” he said. “The only way we’re going to become sustainable is to find a whole bunch of surface water and bring it into this area.”
As far as agriculture being over-regulated, he said the Department of Pesticide Regulation is a prime example. One of its latest projects is a proposed statewide notification system for restricted-use pesticides.
“I don’t see that going away,” Doornenbal said about ever-increasing regulation. “I see that continuing to get worse and worse and worse.”
He said part of the problem is the state and public generally view farmers as being part of a perceived problem when they’re actually long-time stewards of the land and environment.
